New research on vegetables
and aging gives mothers another reason to
say "I told you so." It found that eating
vegetables appears to help keep the brain
young and may slow the mental decline sometimes
associated with growing old.
On measures of mental sharpness,
older people who ate more than two servings
of vegetables daily appeared about five years
younger at the end of the six-year study than
those who ate few or no vegetables.
The research in almost 2,000
Chicago-area men and women doesn't prove that
vegetables reduce mental decline, but it adds
to mounting evidence pointing in that direction.
The findings also echo previous research in
women only.
Green leafy vegetables including
spinach, kale and collards appeared to be
the most beneficial. The researchers said
that may be because they contain healthy amounts
of vitamin E, an antioxidant that is believed
to help fight chemicals produced by the body
that can damage cells.
Vegetables generally contain
more vitamin E than fruits, which were not
linked with slowed mental decline in the study.
Vegetables also are often eaten with healthy
fats such as salad oils, which help the body
absorb vitamin E and other antioxidants, said
lead author Martha Clare Morris, a researcher
at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging at
Chicago's Rush University Medical Center.
The fats from healthy oils
can help keep cholesterol low and arteries
clear, which both contribute to brain health.
The study was published in
this week's issue of the journal Neurology
and funded with grants from the National Institute
on Aging.
"This is a sound paper and
contributes to our understanding of cognitive
decline," said Dr. Meir Stampfer of Harvard's
School of Public Health.
"The findings specific for
vegetables and not fruit add further credibility
that this is not simply a marker of a more
healthful lifestyle," said Stampfer, who was
not involved in the research.
The research involved 1,946
people aged 65 and older who filled out questionnaires
about their eating habits. A vegetable serving
equaled about a half-cup chopped or one cup
if the vegetable was a raw leafy green like
spinach.
They also had mental function
tests three times over about six years; about
60 percent of the study volunteers were black.
The tests included measures
of short-term and delayed memory, which asked
these older people to recall elements of a
story that had just been read to them. The
participants also were given a flashcard-like
exercise using symbols and numbers.
Overall, people did gradually
worse on these tests over time, but those
who ate more than two vegetable servings a
day had about 40 percent less mental decline
than those who ate few or no vegetables. Their
test results resembled what would be expected
in people about five years younger, Morris
said,
The study also found that
people who ate lots of vegetables were more
physically active, adding to evidence that
"what's good for your heart is good for your
brain," said neuroscientist Maria Carillo,
director of medical and scientific relations
for the Alzheimer's Association.
The study examined mental
decline but did not look at whether any of
the study volunteers developed Alzheimer's
disease.
